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June 23, 2009

G70: Red Sox 11, Nationals 3

... and a tight, see-saw game became a laugher in a ten-batter eighth inning, thanks to two-RBI hits from both Jason Bay and Jacoby Ellsbury.

Those two guys were also the offensive stars of the game. Bay went 4-for-6, with three singles and his 19th home run (capping off a nine-pitch AB in the second), three runs scored and three RBI. Ellsbury was 4-for-4, with two singles, two triples, one walk, three RBI and a stolen base. He scored only one run, but was stranded at third two other times.

Dustin Pedroia had two doubles and a single and Kevin Youkilis had two hits, two runs and two RBI. ... The Red Sox scored at least one run of each of the six Washington pitchers.

Penny (5.2-6-3-3-6, 112) had trouble with two-out hits in the first and sixth innings and all three of his walks came in the fourth inning, but he was able to get out of jams when he needed to. Daniel Bard loaded the bases with one out in the ninth (a walk and two singles), but got a 3-6-1 DP from Nick Johnson to end the game.

Atlanta shutout the Yankees 4-0, so Boston is 5 GA in the East -- their biggest lead since September 15, 2007.

In nine starts since May 3, Penny has a 3.71 ERA over 53.1 innings -- and has not allowed an earned run in his last 11 innings of work.

With Daisuke Matsuzaka out of action for the foreseeable future and John Smoltz's health still a question mark, it seems unlikely (even with Clay Buchholz in Pawtucket and Justin Masterson's ability to rejoin the rotation) that the Red Sox will be trading Penny.

Lannan is a 24-year-old lefty in his second full season with Washington. He had a 3.91 ERA (112 ERA+) in 31 starts last year. In his last four outings this season, he has gone 28.1-17-10-15, with a 1.91 ERA.

Lannan grew up on Long Island and rooted for the Yankees. In his last start, he tossed 8.1 innings in a 3-2 win over the New Yorkers in the Bronx. What does he think about facing the rival Red Sox?

Not a big deal. I wasn't really into the whole Yankees-Red Sox thing. I liked the Yankees, but I didn't hate the Red Sox. ... Before that rivalry really heated up.

Lannan says he stopped going to games in 2000 and never saw the Red Sox play at Yankee Stadium.

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Over in Yankeeland, Bob Klapisch says Joe Girardi is "entering a critical phase of his managerial career". Given Girardi's history of overworking his players, Klapisch wonders about CC Sabathia, who was pulled from his start on Sunday in the second inning with tenderness in his left biceps.

That injury comes after Sabathia pitched at least seven innings for eight straight starts (May 8 to June 16) -- and after he led the major leagues in innings pitched and batters faced in both 2007 and 2008.

The Yankees -- 4 GB -- are in Atlanta tonight. The Blue Jays are 5 GB and the Rays are 6 GB.

Patrick, they pampered him by taking him out in the second even though he had not made a complete disaster of the game yet. That's as far as foresight was able to go for CC.

In terms of their big signings, they should be riding very high on the hog this year, next year, maybe the year after. It's only after that that they should expect CC & AJ to break down. (Well, AJ could break down at any time.)

On the skinny side of things, TB's David Price is getting thrashed by the Phillies in his first frame...it's 3-0 with no outs (E-Longoria, BB, 2B, 2B). Then again, Philly has Moyer pitching, so they may need all the runs.

LOL, Laura. My younger son actually met the sweaty bald man himself a few years ago at the elementary school playground. It was when he was dating Enza and brought her little boy to the playground during my son's recess time.

I even blogged about the fun of meeting up with folks from internet communities. I'm pretty active in a bunch of net based writing groups and I've met probably more than a dozen of the peeps in real life now. Not an ax murderer among them.

Has anyone else here read "Theo-logy"? It was a very interesting book on Theo, and it raised some interesting questions--it casts Lucchino as quite the bad guy. I'd be interested to hear what you guys think.

I can't help it. Those of us glued to Red Sox baseball even in 1971 remember how hard it was to watch and root against a team managed by Ted Williams. But this the link to the box score of our last game in Washington before 4,000 plus fans: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/WS2/WS2197109190.shtml